The Port of Nagoya, Japan’s largest and busiest port, has been targeted in a ransomware attack that has disrupted the operation of its container terminals.
This is a significant blow considering that the port accounts for approximately 10% of Japan’s total trade volume. With 21 piers and 290 berths, it handles an impressive amount of cargo, including over two million containers and a cargo tonnage of 165 million each year. Moreover, it is also an important port for one of the world’s largest automakers, as it facilitates the export of a majority of their cars.
Last Wednesday, the administrative authority of the Port of Nagoya released a notice informing the public about a malfunction in the “Nagoya Port Unified Terminal System” (NUTS), which serves as the central control system for all container terminals in the port.
According to the notice, the cause was a ransomware attack on July 4, 2023, at approximately 06:30 AM local time. As a result, all container loading and unloading operations that rely on trailers have been cancelled. This disruption caused substantial financial losses for the port and severely impacted the flow of goods to and from Japan. The port authority was working on restoring the NUTS system to resume operations.
The Nagoya Port Authority has experienced cyberattacks, but this ransomware attack has had the most substantial impact. On September 6, 2022, the port’s website was rendered unreachable for approximately 40 minutes due to a massive distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) launched by the pro-Russian group Killnet.
The identity of the threat actor responsible for the recent ransomware attack on the Port of Nagoya remains unknown. No group has claimed responsibility for the intrusion as of the time of publishing.
